Keepin' it real : essays on race in contemporary America / by Elwood David Watson.

PART I - THE POLITICS OF WHITELASH -- When Racism Hits Close to Home: On Your Campus -- The 2016 Olympics: The Trilogy of Hypocrisy, Racism, and White Privilege -- Dylann Storm Roof: The Deranged, Dark Face of White Nationalism -- Conservatives Still Scapegoating Barack Obama -- Colin Kaepernick: The Undeniable Reality of American Racial Hypocrisy -- Birtherism = Bullshit -- Michelle Obama: Playa Hatin' on the Former First Lady -- Denial of Supreme Court Seat: One of a Long Line of Racial Slights toward President Obama -- The Intersection of Racial, Gender, and Economic Politics -- The Alt-Right and the Repulsive Spirit of White Supremacy -- PART II - STAYING WOKE! Authentically Black: The Debate Lives On -- Mental Illness: Yes-It Is a Black Thing! -- Black Lives Matter Too -- Black History Month: Beyond One Month -- Message to Starbucks: Tackling Racism Will Require More than a Few Hours of Racial Bias Training -- We Must Focus More on Substantial Issues as Opposed to Fleeting Symbolism -- An Open Letter to Some on the Conservative Right: Slavery Was Totally F*cked Up. Period -- Self-Hatred in the Black Community -- Rachel Dolezal: The Potential Perversity of White Privilege -- The Black Community and the Complex Politics of Homophobia -- Michael Dyson and Cornel West: Much Ado about Ego -- 1-800-Blame-A-Black-Man -- Does Black America Deserve Reparations? Yes. Period -- PART III - PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK BODIES -- Violence against and Demonization of Black Women Is Often Overlooked -- Emmett Till: Will Justice Ever Be Served? -- Stephon Clark, Antwon Rose, Alton Sterling, Philando Castille: The Devaluation of Black Bodies -- John Lewis: An American Icon -- People of Color: Continually Demeaned, Devalued, and Dehumanized -- Pepsi Fiasco Demonstrated the Crucial Need for Greater Diversity in Corporate America -- PART IV - SOULFUL REFLECTIONS ON ENTERTAINMENT, ICONS, AD CELEBRITY -- O.J. Simpson: Still Captivating and Polarizing the Nation -- Muhammad Ali: Bold, Daring, Authentic, Problematic, and Kept It 100 Percent Real -- Bill Cosby: America's Dad Hoodwinked Us -- Prince: Bold, Daring, Black, and Unapologetically Controversial -- Jemele Hill Spoke Truth to Power -- Donald Trump and the NFL: The Politics of White Fragility and White Supremacy -- Bill Maher, and the Nigger-Word Debate -- Roseanne Barr and the Politics of Right-Wing Hypocrisy -- Aretha Franklin: Feminist, Activist, Phenomenal Woman -- Omarosa, Donald Trump, and Unalloyed Racial Bullhorns -- Why Is the Conservative Right So Obsessed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? -- R. Kelly and the Ongoing Disregard, Devaluation, Denigration

The past decade has been one of the most racially turbulent periods in the modern era, as the complicated breakthrough of the Obama presidency gave way to the racially charged campaigning and eventual governing of Donald Trump. Keepin' It Real presents a wide-ranging group of essays that take on key aspects of the current landscape surrounding racial issues in America, including the place of the Obamas, the rise of the alt-right and White nationalism, Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick and the backlash against his protests, Black Lives Matter, sexual politics in the black community, and much more. America's racial problems aren't going away any time soon. Keepin' It Real will serve as a marker of the arguments we're having right now, and an argument for the changes we need to make to become the better nation we've long imagined ourselves to be.